Author's Chapter Notes:

Contains coarse language, violence, and attempted non-con.

OOO

'Burn the cards,' he had written on the seven of Hearts and left the room at 8:55. She mourned the loss of his company for those minutes and gathered the cards dutifully, if reluctantly, into their cardboard pack. To destroy anything he had taken such time and care with smacked of blasphemy to Harley, but if things were to go as she wanted them to, her obedience was absolutely necessary. To disobey could be disastrous. If she did simply as he said, she could trust in the opinion of a man who was much smarter than anyone she had ever met before, she could trust in him. And trust in him, Harley did.

She slid the pack into the side of her bra and carefully adjusted her shirt over top. She had to keep it close, keep it hidden until she could do as he had instructed and destroy the cards. She crossed the room and slipped her suit jacket on, opening the door and locking it behind her. It struck her as rather like locking the barn after the cow had escaped, but it was easier to simply follow the reflex. She had a rare empty hour in her schedule and it would be straight to the cafeteria with her. She was rather hungry, and it would afford her a chance to catch another glimpse of the Captain… it was getting so difficult to be without him these days she almost couldn't bear it.

Upon arriving, she was most disappointed to realize that the Captain was not, in fact, at breakfast. Neither was either of his usual partners in crime, she noted suspiciously. Where there was smoke…

She bought two of the breakfast sandwiches. The cooks actually made half-decent biscuits here, which was nothing short of a small miracle, Harley noted. She sat in an empty corner of the cafeteria and unwrapped the first of her sandwiches.

"Mornin'…"

She by now knew the voice.

"Captain Knauer," she smiled, looking up.

He had something to tell her, she need only look at his face to see that.

"What's the news?" she whispered conspiratorially and he grinned at her.

"Who says I got anything useful to say? Maybe I'm just here to pull your strings."

"You shouldn't look so eager, then… I'm a psychiatrist after all. They do teach us to read body language."

"They taught us, too," he replied, with an exasperated shake of his head. He was teasing her. Her heart sank. She had inkling, a thought of this, but she had hoped so fervently that she had not been right.

He was flirting with her.

She schooled her face into a careful mask, an unwavering and perpetual smile. She had long ago learned to hide the exact nature of her thoughts behind such a smile. With her new position beside her Mr. J, a smile was only appropriate, wasn't it?

"What do you have to tell me, Wilhelm? I see there's something on your mind."

"Alright, alright, so I've been caught out. I've just been thinking is all."

"And here I thought they'd burned the biscuits…" she minced.

He gave her an annoyed look, arching an eyebrow. No, no, no, this wasn't safe at all, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. He was supposed to be satisfied with her simple friendship, not yearn for more. But she was his type, wasn't she? Perhaps she had been a little too friendly herself. As far as everyone knew she was single, and she could not let on, should she? He was smart. How long would it take him to put together the pieces if she rejected him? God, what was she going to do?

"I've been thinking," he began again.

"Go on…"

"I've thought of a way you can repay me," he said simply.

"And what would that be, Wilhelm?"

"You can let me take you to dinner." His eyes could not meet hers for a moment, finally gaining the courage to raise them again. He looked so hopeful. "It's been six years since Lorelai died, and in that time I've never met anybody that reminded me so much of her."

Perhaps she had an exit strategy? "Wilhelm…"

"No, let me finish. That's not the reason I'm asking. I've cried my tears. There's a part of me that is always going to love her, but I've made my peace with that part of my life. It's over and done with. What I mean is… you fight for what you believe in. You've got a good heart, Harleen, and a good head on your shoulders and I admire the hell out of you."

Her heart clenched. If he only knew,she thought, wincing inwardly.

"You've made your case," she said quietly, her eyes studying the tabletop for a moment. She had no recourse, no retreat. "Yes, Wilhelm, I'll go to dinner with you."

"I don't want this as a favor." There was an edge of harshness in his voice.

She folded her hands reflexively.

"That's not what this is," she shook her head.

He studied her for a moment. After some time, he seemed to draw his desired conclusion, for he smiled softly and nodded.

"How about this Friday?"

It was all she could do to bring herself to smile this time. "That sounds wonderful." Her heart broke to see how happy those words made him.

"Good… I got something to tell you… but we can talk when we're alone."

Dammit, dammit, dammit. "Alright then… I'll see you Friday," she gave him a soft smile.

He took several steps backwards, reluctant to leave sight of her, finally whirling on his heel and loping off.

God… why did things like this always happen to her? She picked at her biscuit listlessly.

She had suddenly lost her appetite.

OOO

She made herself eat at least one of the sandwiches, having spent hard earned money on the damned things, and finally left the cafeteria. Upon glancing at her watch the time revealed itself to be shortly after 9:30. She still had time.

She took the stairs (physical activity never failed to clear her head) and made her way to the nurse's station near her office. If she could have avoided these visits, then by all means she would have. The girl had never ceased to be snappish since their initial confrontation, though in the end Harley did not really blame her for it.

"Good morning, Alicia. I need my… schedules." She was interrupted when the woman unceremoniously dumped the usual manila folder upon the counter's edge and promptly spun back to her computer screen, back to Harley.

"Thank you," she said lamely, grabbed the folder and slinked away. She made her way around the corner, retreating to the relative safety of the women's bathroom. She sighed as she listened to the door closing behind her, staring at the mirror for a moment. She laid the folder on the marble countertop. She wet a paper towel and pressed it to her cheeks, closing her eyes and simply breathing for several long moments.

He's such a nice guy…It felt terrible to lie to him, but what choice did she have? She certainly couldn't tell him about the Captain. Such a thing would be catastrophic to her plan. She had so little time to get the pieces into place before they had to leave. They had less than two weeks. She was safe for the duration of his treatment. Any longer would give Standen a chance to place Jack into custody, and then she would have no chance of breaking him out. She had no illusions to the contrary. The door opened and closed, a pair of slippers shuffled across the floor. She smoothed her features, lowered her hands from her face, dabbing carefully beneath her eyes.

The deadbolt sliding home caught her attention.

Shit…

She did not need to look, she had a sinking suspicion and her thoughts proved correct as her eyes took in the pale, icy features. The square of his shoulders, the set of his jaw: he was in a white rage, and Harley's heart sank to the depths of her stomach, cold flooding her.

"Colonel," she began carefully.

"It took me… it took me a moment. To really understand. See, at first, I thought… there's no way she can be that stupid. We had an agreement, after all," he advanced, and step by step she matched him, retreating until she ran hard into cold tile. "And then… and then I realized… you were laughingat me."

Shit. He's crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

"I asked myself, why? Why would someone so smart, so talented, choose the path of her own destruction?"

"I don't under—"

"Don't play with me!" he roared and she flinched, eyes darting. God, she had nothing, no weapons. She was cornered. "I saw it all. There are cameras, you stupid cunt. If you had half a brain in your head you would have thought to look. See, him, him I understand, he doesn't care if he loses you, but you? I would have expected more from you… You had such a bright future ahead of you, Doctor… but there's no future where you're going."

He jumped for her, she ducking and darting beneath his grip. Her heels skittered across the tile, feet sliding and ankles dipping inward. His fist contacted with the wall only centimeters from where her head had been a moment before. A scream tore from her throat, she nearly lost her balance, slamming hard into a stall support and he was right behind her, reaching for her. She stumbled, righted herself, narrowly avoided him.

"Help me!" she screamed, screamed as loud as she could. Someone had to hear her, someone had to! His hand snatched at her hair and found purchase. She screamed again and could not escape him this time.

"You can't get away from me," he hissed, "There's nowhere for you to go. You're trapped like the rat you are, you stupid bitch. You have not proved all that competent in following your orders, Lieutenant. You haven't nearly enough respect for authority. And you know what? I'm going to fuck it into you."

She caught him with a hard right cross, fist snapping against flesh, he stumbled but did not lose his grip. Her scalp screamed. She stomped hard upon his instep. He yelped. She stepped into him and shifted, pulling his weight up and over her shoulder just as she had been taught for so many years. He took a handful of hair from her scalp as he crossed her back and he went down hard upon his own shoulder. She scrambled over top of him, feet unable to find purchase upon the tile. His hand found her ankle, lost it again, and she wailed as he scrambled after her. His nails tore into her panty hose, the thin mesh ripping, and she kicked at him blindly, reaching for the door and the safety that lay beyond it. His grip found her again and did not, this time, release her.

"Help me!"

He smacked her hard in the mouth, cutting her cry short, and her head bounced off the tile, the world going hazy for a moment. His knees shoved between hers, forcing her thighs apart and she screamed again, screamed until she thought her throat would tear with the volume of it.

"Shut the fuck up!" His hand tightened in her hair and he belted her hard across the cheek. She struggled against him blindly, the terror overwhelming her as he shoved her skirt higher on her thighs. Oh god, he was really going to do it!

There was noise outside, yelling, scrabbling against the door and she howled as his nails tore red lines down her skin.

The lock finally broke, the door slamming inward. A gleaming dress shoe caught him in the chin, and Harley finally reacted, jamming her knee up and into his groin as hard as she could. The breath flew out of him in a rush of agony and he rolled off of her. She dug her heels into the tile and pressed herself tight to the wall beneath the sink. His fist pounded into his face, did not stop until he was no longer moving, flesh already puffy beneath the blows. There was movement beyond the door, inside now.

"You son of a bitch," her savior panted, and the newcomer pulled at his shoulders. Knauer finally consented, crawling off the Colonel, and the other guard flipped him over onto his stomach, securing his hands quickly behind his back.

"Harleen… Harleen!" It was the second try before Harley finally acknowledged him, looking at him blankly, helplessly.

"He was really gonna do it," she whispered, the tears building in her eyes and he rushed for her, pulling her up off of the ground and into his arms.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, kid, it's okay. We got him, we got him." Knauer whispered and she leaned numbly against him, sniffling weakly as he stroked her hair back from her face. "It's okay… I heard you screaming… I got you… I got you, now."

"Get that bastard out of here," he gestured to the guard, David, she thought, and she watched him and another gather the unconscious Colonel from the room.

"He was… he was… no one's ever…"

"Just shush," he whispered, and soon she felt a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Wilhelm nodded his thanks to the other guard, and led her carefully from the room, holding her close against his chest.

"How did you know?"

He shook his head helplessly. "I just knew, kid…"

Outside, the Colonel was being dragged away, a crowd of patients already forming. They took one look at Harley cradled by Knauer, and began heaping torrents of abuse upon the man, the guards struggling to shove his limp form through the sea of bodies. Harley recognized no one, however. Her eyes found one face alone, one tall, lean form alone in the crowd.

He lounged against the wall, head tilted down, hair falling across his eyes, but Harley could see exactly where his gaze was directed. Jack ignored the Colonel.

He was staring at Wilhelm.